Mechanism for releasing displayed article from dispensing machine



Aug, 15, 1967 E. c. JOHNSON MECHANISM FOR RELE ,ASING DISPLAYED ARTICLEFROM DISPENSING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 7, 1966 I INVENTORf/m'er C. Johnson Aug. 15, 1967 E. C. JOHNSON 3,3353% MECHANISM FORRELEASING DISPLAYED ARTICLE FROM DISPENSING MACHINE Filed March 7, 1966INVENTOR f/mer C. Johnson ATTOR United States Patent 3,335,908 MECHANISMFOR RELEASING DISPLAYED ARTICLE FROM DISPENSKNG MACHINE Elmer C.Johnson, Raytown, Mo., assignor to The Vendo Company, Kansas City, Mo.,a corporation of Missouri Filed Mar. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 532,344 4 Claims.(Cl. 221-103) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Each dispensing column of adrop-shelf type vending machine is equipped with a secondary dispensingmechanism which vends the article in the display bay in the first vendcycle after the shelves are exhausted. The displayed article rests on ahinged support plate. The uppermost shelf is left empty when the machineis restocked and is utilized to initiate operation of the secondarymechanism to dispense the displayed article upon movement of the shelfto its retracted position.

The display bay and the secondary mechanisms for the displayed articlesare located in the door of the machine cabinet, while the shelves of theprimary dispensing mechanisms are housed in the main portion of thecabinet. Each secondary mechanism is provided with a drive spring thatshifts a retainer from beneath the associated support plate to releasethe latter when the upper shelf of the corresponding primary dispensingmechanism is disengaged from the secondary mechanism as the shelf isretracted. In order to permit restocking of the display bay when thecabinet door is opened, the bias of each drive spring is automaticallyreversed as the door is opened to allow the support plates to bere-positioned and held in supporting relationship to the articles in thedisplay bay.

This invention is for use with vending or dispensing machines of thetype having a display bay wherein samples of the products in the machinemay be viewed by a consumer, and relates to mechanism for dispensing adisplayed product when the stock of products it represents is exhaustedfrom the machine.

Vending machines which are designed primarily to vend products such aspastry and candy normally display a sample of each product available forpurchase by a machine customer. Each item so displayed is frequentlyaligned with a push button or pull knob which, upon actuation thereof,effects vending of that particular item from the stock within themachine. The customer understandably expects the machine to be capableof delivering any of the items visible in the display bay. However, aproblem of customer frustration is often encountered since, in manymachines of this type, the displayed items remain on display even thoughone or more of the items may no longer be delivered to the customer bythe machine due to a sold-out condition of the stock normally availablefor vending.

Furthermore, if the displayed items remain in the display bay and arenot vended, they quickly become too stale for consumption, particularlyin the case of pastry and related products. Thus, throw-away 105s ofdisplay items frequently occurs, resulting in an unnecessary loss ofpossible salable items.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide asecondary dispensing mechanism of uncomplex design for utilization inconjunction with a primary dispensing mechanism to render the vending ordispensing machine capable of delivering displayed products to theconsumer after the normal stock thereof is exhausted.

As a corollary to the foregoing object, it is an important aim of thisinvention to provide secondary dispensing mechanism as aforesaid whichsenses the absence of a stock of items after completion of dispensing ofthe stock from the primary dispensing mechanism.

Another object is to provide such secondary mechanism which is adaptedfor use with a drop-shelf type vending machine without significantmodification of the product support shelves of the machine or theassociated operating mechanism being required.

Still another object is to provide a secondary dispensing mechanism asaforesaid having a product release member which is normally disposed inunderlying, supporting relationship to a displayed product but which,during dispensing operation, is shiftable to permit gravitation of theproduct from the display bay to a consumer access station.

An additional object is to provide a vending or dispensing machinehaving a cabinet in which the access door thereof is provided with thedisplay bay to permit the latter to be readily restocked upon opening ofthe door during the usual restocking of the primary dispensingmechanism, and wherein the secondary dispensing mechanism isautomatically conditioned for subsequent operation upon closing of thedoor after restocking is completed.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, front elevational view of the cabinet of avending machine provided with a product display bay;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, rear elevational view of the display bay andassociated dispensing mechanisms housed in the door of the cabinet;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, plan view of the cabinet door with the exteriorpanels thereof removed to show the display bay and associated dispensingmechanisms;

FIG. 5 is a detail view showing the drive spring of a secondarydispensing mechanism and associated components when the door of thecabinet is in its open position;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional View taken along line 66 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a detail view showing the drive spring of a secondarydispensing mechanism and associated components when the cabinet door isclosed and the top shelf of the respective primary mechanism has trippedto permit vending of the displayed product.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, a vending machine is there shownhaving a cabinet or housing 10 provided with a display bay 12 having afront glass 14 or other transparent pane permitting the customer to viewfive products on display. Bay 12 forms a part of the door 16 of cabinet10, the door being swingable about hinges (not shown) to permit accessto the interior of the machine in the usual manner. A row of five pullknobs 18 allows the customer to select any one of five items carried instock in the machine, knobs 18 being in vertical alignment with the fivedisplayed products in bay 12. Each displayed product represents andidentifies the product that will be dispensed upon customer actuation ofa particular knob 18. A product delivery station 20 is formed by thelower end of a delivery chute within cabinet 10 and is located below therow of knobs 18. Door 16 is also provided with a coin slot 22 and acoin-return lever 24 which form a part of a conventional coin-controlledvending machine mechanism (not shown).

Except for the improvements of the instant invention as set forthhereinafter, the vending machine illustrated in FIG. 1 is a conventionalapparatus of the general type shown and described in Stoner et al. US.Letters Patent No. 2,324,040, granted July 13, 1943. Such machines arecommonly referred to as drop-shelf type vending machines since eachdispensing column or compartment thereof contains a plurality ofvertically spaced shelves which support the products prior to vending.The vending operation is effected by successively tripping the shelvesof each compartment from bottom to top to permit the product on eachshelf to gravitate to delivery station 20 as each shelf is tripped.Successive tripping is elfected as the corresponding knob 18 isrepeatedly actuated by the customer; in conventional machines where theproduct on display in bay 12 is not dispensed, a compartment is sold outafter tripping of the uppermost shelf thereof and must then berestocked. For a full and complete understanding of the operation ofdrop-shelf vending machines, the aforesaid patent is incorporated hereinby reference; therefore, only the secondary dispensing mechanism of theinstant invention will be treated in detail hereinafter.

Bay 12 is divided into five compartments by partitions 26 (FIGS. 2 and6), each compartment containing one of the products on display. Itshould be understood, however, that the number of compartments in bay 12is governed by the number of columns or compartments of the primarydispensing apparatus of the machine, since the object in providingproduct display is to enable the consumer to rapidly identify thecharacter of the product contained in each column. A product 28 isillustrated in FIG. 6, where it may be seen that the product issupported by a backplate 3t) and a lower plate member 32 in a positionsuch that product 28 may be readily viewed through glass 14.

The plate 30 and member 32 of each display bay compartment are swingablymounted at their lower and upper ends respectively on a horizontal hingepin 34 extending between adjacent partitions 26. A spring 36 (FIG. 2)biases each plate 30 toward the front of the machine and into engagementwith plate 38 extending horizontally across the top of bay 12 at therear thereof. The broken line position of plate 30 shown in FIG. 6illustrates that the backplate may be manually shifted away from plate38 to permit restocking of the associated bay compartment when door 16is open.

Each partition 26 that defines the right-hand border of a baycompartment (as viewed in FIG. 2) is provided with an angularly disposedslot 40 (FIG. 6) which receives a retainer 42 that normally bearsagainst the underside of member 32 to maintain the same in aproduct-supporting position as illustrated in FIG. 6 and in the lefthandcompartment of FIG. 2. Retainer 42 is in the form of a laterally bentend portion of an elongated, irregularly-shaped, rod-like element 44that extends upwardly from slot 40 to a position adjacent the uppermargin of backplate 30. The straight, central section 43 (see FIG. 3) ofelement 44 is rotatable about its longitudinal axis by virtue of sleevemountings 45 which are rigid with partition 26 and rotatably receivesection 43. The upper end stretch 46 of element 44 is also laterallybent and is offset in a manner to project through a clearance opening 48in plate 38. A flexible sensing wire 50 depends from the free extremityof stretch 46 and is normally disposed rearwardly of the upper margin ofbackplate 30, clearance for movement of plate 30 to the dotted lineposition shown in FIG. 6 being afforded by an upright slot 52 in plate30.

A hairpin spring 54 has one end thereof connected to lateral stretch 46,the spring being disposed between plate 38 and glass 14 with itsopposite end connected to a finger 56 depending from a horizontal rod 58overlying a transversely channel-shaped top plate 60. Rod 58 is mountedon the upper surface of plate 60 for rotation about its longitudinalaxis and extends longitudinally of plate 60 as illustrated.

Plate 60 is a structural member that is common to all of the baycompartments and defines the upper limit of the various compartments. InFIG. 4, it may be seen that finger 56 extends through a clearanceopening 62 in plate 60 directly above the associated hairpin spring 54.It

should be understood that the various fingers 56 associated withrespective springs 54 act in unison upon rotation of rod 58 so that, atall times, the finger 56 associated with each bay compartment is at thesame relative position.

A portion of one of the primary dispensing mechanisms is illustrated inFIG. 3, where it may be seen that a shelf 64 has one of its edges inengagement with sensing wire 50 of the secondary dispensing mechanism ofthe associated display bay compartment. Shelf 64 is a drop shelf and ispivotally mounted at one longitudinal edge thereof for movement betweenthe product-supporting position illustrated and a dispensing positionwhere shelf 64 would then hang from its mounting. A second shelf 66 isshown beneath shelf 64 and illustrated in its retracted or dispensingposition, movement to such position having been effected by the primarydispensing mechanism by releasing the shelf for swinging movement aboutits pivotal mountings (one pivot pin being shown at 68) under the weightof the product thereon. Thus, in the FIG. 3 illustration, drop shelf 66has dispensed its product, while the uppermost shelf 64 remains in itshorizontal position. It should be understood that an independentlycontrolled, primary drop-shelf dispensing mechanism is disposedrearwardly of each of the display bay compartments, and that theuppermost shelf 64 of each mechanism normally engages the sensing wire50 of the associated secondary dispensing mechanism.

Rod 58 is biased by a spring 70 (FIG. 4) in a clock wise direction ofrotation as viewed in FIGS. S-7. When door 16 is open, spring 70 effectsrotation of rod 58 until a stop 72 projecting radially from rod 58engages the uppermost surface of plate 60 (FIG. 5). The left end of rod58, as viewed in FIG. 4, is provided with an offset 74 which is engagedby a projection 76 extending from the stationary portion of housing 10.Projection 76 is illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 4 by broken lines.Door 16 moves relative to projection 76 upon opening and closing thereofand moves offset 74 into engagement with projection 76 as the doorapproaches its closed position. Then, as the door is fully closed,projection 76 forces rod 58 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction(as viewed in FIGS. 5-7) against the action of spring 70 to the positionillustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. Note that, at this time, the varioussensing wires 50 will be brought into engagement with the edges ofassociated uppermost shelves 64.

The operation of the invention will best be understood by firstconsidering the condition of the primary and secondary dispensingmechanisms after the machine is stocked with products and ready for use.Products are not loaded onto the upermost shelves 64 of the primarymechanisms, however, for a purpose that will become clear hereinafter.FIGURE 6 illustrates product 28 supported in bay 12 for customerviewing, and shows that the sensing wire 50 of the associated secondarydispensing mechanism is in engagement with the proximal edge of thecorresponding uppermost shelf 64, shown in phantom lines. Since door 16is shut, stationary projection 76 bears against offset 74 and holds rod58 and its associated components in the positions illustrated in FIGS. 4and 6. Each hairpin spring 54 is thus compressed between its associatedstretch 46 and finger 56 due to the action of the latter when the doorwas previously closed after reloading of the machine (compare FIGS. 5and 6).

The products in a particular column are successively dispensed frombottom to top upon repeated operation of the corresponding pull knob 18,in conjunction with the deposit of appropriate coinage in the coin slot22. However, once a column is exhausted as illustrated in FIG. 3 whereonly the uppermost shelf 64 remains in a horizontal attitude, it will beappreciated that the next operation of the appropriate knob 18 willcause shelf 64 to retract or drop to an upright position. Shelf 64,however, as set forth above, is not provided with a product as inconventional drop-shelf vending machines where the displayed productcannot be vended.

The tripping of the uppermost shelf 64 in the instant invention isutilized to commence the operation of the associated secondarydispensing mechanism. Wire 50 senses the absence of products from thecolumn as shelf 64 swings to its retracted position, since the edge ofshelf 64 moves out of engagement with wire 50. This permits hairpinspring 54 to expand and push stretch 46 away from plate 38 (see FIG. 7and the right-hand secondary mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2). Spring 54drives element 44 along a path of travel defined by the rotation ofsection 43 about its longitudinal axis. This, in turn, withdrawsretainer 42 from beneath release member 32, permitting the latter to actas a trap door and release product 28 for gravitation onto incline 33and thence along the delivery chute to delivery station 20. The use of aflexible wire for the sensor 50 eliminates the need to closely controlthe tolerances of the structure;

When it is desired to restock the machine, door 16 is opened, therebymoving offset 74 away from stationary projection '76 and effectingrotation of rod 58 to the position shown in FIG. 5 under the action ofspring 70. This shifts fingers 56 away from their associated hairpinsprings 54 to attenuate such springs and place the same under tension.Thus, release members 32 may be manually reset and are held in place byretainers 42 during restocking of the machine since the driving force ofsprings 54 now holds the retainer in supporting relationship torespective members 32. However, as discussed above, springs 54 are againplaced in compression as door 16 is closed and the sensing wires 50 aremoved into engagement with respective shelves 64, so that each of thesecondary dispensing mechanisms will subsequently be operable when theassociated shelf 64 is tripped.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a dispensing machine:

a housing provided with a product-delivery station and having astationary portion, a movable door portion shiftable between a closedposition and an Open position with respect to said stationary portion,and a display zone in one of said portions;

structure including a series of successively operable components in theother of said portions with all but the last of said components beingutilized to support individual products of like character for successiverelease to the delivery station;

means in said one portion adjacent said zone for supporting anadditional product in said zone of the same type as the productssupported by said components, whereby said additional products isdisplayed to the consumer to identify the character of the products,

said means including a product support member shiftable from a normal,product-supporting position to a dispensing position permitting shiftingof said additional product to said delivery station;

operating means in said one portion including a shiftable element havinga retainer engageable with said support member for maintaining themember in said normal disposition during dispensing of the productssupported by said components,

said operating means further including yieldable means coupled with saidelement and normally biasing the latter in a direction to shift saidretainer toward a position clearing said member, said element engagingsaid last to be operated component, when the latter is in an initialdisposition prior to operation thereof and when said door portion is inits closed position, to hold said retainer against movement under theaction of said yieldable means until operation of said last to beoperated component, whereby to release said member for movement to saiddispensing position to dispense said additional product in the nextcycle of operation after the products supported by said components havebeen dispensed;

means coupled with said yieldable means for reversing the direction ofbias thereof in response to movement of said door portion from saidclosed to said open position, whereby to hold said retainer inengagement with said member during restocking of said zone, and forreturning said yieldable means to normal operative condition in responseto reclosure of said door portion, and

said element and said last to be operated component being disposed toeffect said interengagement thereof when the last to be operatedcomponent is in its initial disposition, as said door portion isreturned to said closed position.

2. In a vending machine having a cabinet, a door on said cabinetprovided with a product display zone and a product delivery station, andproduct dispensing structure including a series of successivelyreleasable components with all but the last to be released of saidcomponents being utilized to support individual products of likecharacter for successive release to the delivery station, thecombination with said machine of:

a shiftable product support plate disposed to support an additionalproduct in said display zone and of the same type as said plurality ofproducts whereby said additional product is displayed to the consumer toidentify the character of said plurality of products;

a shiftable element having a retainer for said plate and mounted formovement to shift said retainer between one position engaging said plateto hold the latter in supporting relationship to said additionalproduct, and a second position releasing said plate; and

means engaging the element for biasing the latter in a direction toshift the retainer toward said second position thereof releasing theplate, said element having a portion disposed to be engaged by the lastto be released of said components when the latter is in the normalunreleased condition for maintaining the retainer in said one positionthereof against the action of said biasing means whereby, upon releaseof said last to be released components, said retainer is shifted by saidbiasing means to said second position of the same to permit gravitationof said additional product to the delivery station,

said biasing means including a spring, and a rotatable control membercoupled with the spring for compressing the latter between the controlmember and the element to bias said element in a direction to shift theretainer toward said second position thereof upon movement of thecontrol member in one direction of rotation, and for tensioning thespring between the control member and the element upon movement of thecontrol member in the opposite direction of rotation, and yieldablemeans biasing the control member in said opposite direction of rotation,said control member having an offset portion disposed to be engaged bythe door when the latter is closed and thereby rotate the control memberin said one direction of movement thereof against the bias of saidyieldable means, whereby upon opening of the door, the control member isrotated by the yieldable means and the retainer is thereby held inplate-supporting disposition under tension of said spring when it isdesired to restock the display zone.

3. In a dispensing machine:

a housing provided with a product-delivery station and having astationary portion, a movable door portion shiftable between a closedposition and an open position with respect to said stationary portion,and a display zone in one of said portions;

structure including a series of successively operable components in theother of said portions with all but the last of said components beingutilized to support individual products of like character for successiverelease to the delivery station;

means in said one portions adjacent said zone for supporting anadditional product in said zone of the same type as the productssupported by said components, whereby said additional product isdisplayed to the consumer to identify the character of the products,

said means including a product support member shiftable from a normal,product-supporting position to a dispensing position permitting shiftingof said additional product to said delivery station;

operating means in said one portion associated with said support memberand engaging said last to be operated component when the latter is in aninitial position prior to operation thereof and when said door portionis in its closed position,

said operating means having a retainer maintaining the member in saidnormal disposition during dispensing of the products supported by saidcomponents, and being actuated by said last to be operated componentupon disengagement therefrom as the latter moves 20 away from itsinitial position during operation thereof 8 to shift said retainer to adisposition releasing said member for movement to said dispensingposition, whereby to dispense said additional product in the next cycleof operation after the products supported by said components have beendispensed; and

means coupled with said operating means for disabling the latter inresponse to movement of said door portion from said closed to said openposition, whereby said retainer may assume its normal disposition andremain therein during restocking of said zone.

4. The invention of claim 3:

and means for restoring said operating means to operative condition assaid door portion is returned to said closed position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,525,682 10/1950 Kaplan 221155 XSAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A DISPENSING MACHINE: A HOUSING PROVIDED WITH A PRODUCT-DELIVERYSTATION AND HAVING A STATIONARY PORTION, A MOVABLE DOOR PORTIONSHIFTABLE BETWEEN A CLOSED POSITION AND AN OPEN POSITION WITH RESPECT TOSAID STATIONARY PORTION, AND A DISPLAY ZONE IN ONE OF SAID PORTIONS;STRUCTURE INCLUDING A SERIES OF SUCCESSIVELY OPERABLE COMPONENTS IN THEOTHER OF SAID PORTIONS WITH ALL BUT THE LAST OF SAID COMPONENTS BEINGUTILIZED TO SUPPORT INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTS OF LIKE CHARACTER FOR SUCCESSIVERELEASE TO THE DELIVERY STATION: MEANS IN SAID ONE PORTION ADJACENT SAIDZONE FOR SUPPORTING AN ADDITIONAL PRODUCT IN SAID ZONE OF THE SAME TYPEAS THE PRODUCTS SUPPORTED BY SAID COMPONENTS, WHEREBY SAID ADDITIONALPRODUCTS IS DISPLAYED TO THE CONSUMER TO IDENTIFY THE CHARACTER OF THEPRODUCTS, SAID MEANS INCLUDING A PRODUCT SUPPORT MEMBER SHIFTABLE FROM ANORMAL, PRODUCT-SUPPORTING POSITION TO A DISPENSING POSITION PERMITTINGSHIFTING OF SAID ADDITIONAL PRODUCT TO SAID DELIVERY STATION; OPERATINGMEANS IN SAID ONE PORTION INCLUDING A SHIFTABLE ELEMENT HAVING ARETAINER ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SUPPORT MEMBER FOR MAINTAINING THE MEMBERIN SAID NORMAL DISPOSITION DURING DISPENSING OF THE PRODUCTS SUPPORTEDBY SAID COMPONENTS, SAID OPERATING MEANS FURTHER INCLUDING YIELDABLEMEANS COUPLED WITH SAID ELEMENT AND NORMALLY BIASING THE LATTER IN ADIRECTION TO SHIFT SAID RETAINER TOWARD A POSITION CLEARING SAID MEMBER,SAID ELEMENT ENGAGING SAID LAST TO BE OPERATED COMPONENT, WHEN THELATTER IS IN AN INITIAL DISPOSITION PRIOR TO OPERATION THEREOF AND WHENSAID DOOR PORTION IS IN ITS CLOSED POSITION, TO HOLD SAID RETAINERAGAINST MOVEMENT UNDER THE ACTION OF SAID YIELDABLE MEANS UNTILOPERATION OF SAID LAST TO BE OPERATED COMPONENT, WHEREBY TO RELEASE SAIDMEMBER FOR MOVEMENT TO SAID DISPENSING POSITION TO DISPENSE SAIDADDITIONAL PRODUCT IN THE NEXT CYCLE OF OPERATION AFTER THE PRODUCTSSUPPORTED BY SAID COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN DISPENSED; MEANS COUPLED WITHSAID YIELDABLE MEANS FOR REVERSING THE DIRECTION OF BIAS THEREOF INRESPONSE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID DOOR PORTION FROM SAID CLOSED TO SAID OPENPOSITION, WHEREBY TO HOLD SAID RETAINER IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID MEMBERDURING RESTOCKING OF SAID ZONE, AND FOR RETURNING SAID YIELDABLE MEANSTO NORMAL OPERATIVE CONDITION IN RESPONSE TO RECLOSURE OF SAID DOORPORTION, AND SAID ELEMENT AND SAID LAST TO BE OPERATED COMPONENT BEINGDISPOSED TO EFFECT SAID INTERENGAGEMENT THEREOF WHEN THE LAST TO BEOPERATED COMPONENT IS IN ITS INITIAL DISPOSITION, AS SAID DOOR PORTIONIS RETURNED TO SAID CLOSED POSITION.